Ukraine Asks World To Criminalize 'Z' As Symbol of Support for Russia's War

Ukraine is asking all countries to criminalize the use of "Z" as a symbol to publicly support the Russian invasion of its neighbor.

In a tweet shared on Tuesday, Ukraine's minister of foreign affairs Dmytro Kuleba wrote: "I call on all states to criminalize the use of the 'Z' symbol as a way to publicly support Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine."

"'Z' means Russian war crimes, bombed out cities, thousands of murdered Ukrainians. Public support of this barbarism must be forbidden," Kuleba said.

The symbol "Z"—together with the letter "V"—was first noticed as a marking on Russian military vehicles in the first days of Moscow's troops invasion of Ukraine.

The letters on the tanks and vehicles which on February 24 entered Ukraine were assumed to be markers for Russian troops to identify their force contingents, but their meaning has never been confirmed.

In a series of tweets between March 2 and 4, Russia's Defense Ministry shared the symbol Z as standing "for Victory," "for the truth," "for peace," and as part of the words "denazification" and "demilitarization."

But whatever the true meaning of the letters on the tanks initially was, the symbol has quickly become a way of signaling support for Russia in its aggression against Ukraine, popping up across Russia and being displayed by supporters of Russia abroad.

On March 4, thousands of people marched through the streets of Serbia's capital Belgrade to the Russian embassy to show their support for Moscow during the war in Ukraine. Many were holding placards showing the Z symbol.

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Serbia has been carefully trying to balance its aspiration to join the European Union and its partnership with NATO with its historic alliance with Russia.

The Z also appeared during the patriotic rally in Moscow on March 18 celebrating eight years since the annexation of Crimea. Tens of thousands joined the celebrations at Moscow's main Luzhniki Stadium, where President Vladimir Putin made an appearance.

The symbol even showed up on a Russian rocket taking off on March 23, as shown on footage shared by the Russian Defense Ministry.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov called the Z symbol a "Nazi mark" on Twitter.

One country in Europe has already taken a move against the symbol.

On Monday, Germany declared that individuals who display the symbol Z to express their support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine could be prosecuted.

The Russian aggression on Ukraine is "a criminal act," the German Interior Ministry spokesperson told reporters during a press conference following the announcement of the new regulation. "Whoever publicly approves of this war of aggression can also make themselves liable to prosecution."

"The letter Z as such is of course not forbidden, but its use may in individual cases constitute an endorsement of the Russian war of aggression," the spokesperson said.

Authorities in German cities have already been involved in following up on cases of the use of the Z symbol in Berlin, Bavaria and Lower Saxony. In the last two states, public displays of the symbol were outlawed last weekend.

An insurance company in Switzerland, Zurich Insurance Group, removed its logo featuring a white Z on blue background from social media last weekend in order to avoid its symbol being confused with the one supporting Russia.

The company, whose logo on social media now features the word "Zurich," told Reuters that they are "temporarily removing the use of the letter 'Z' from social channels where it appears in isolation and could be misinterpreted."